Posts Tagged ‘review’

Back in October 2009 I created a MindMeister Wiki Map (anyone can edit) about the Strengths and Weaknesses of Mind Mapping Software. Soon after a sub map for Mindjet was added. Today I have added a new node to that map for MindManager 9, plus some initial thoughts. Please add yours.

This afternoon I was one of the Mindjet Partners listening to Michael Deutch give his briefing on the forthcoming release of MindManager 9 via a webinar. As is my habit I mapped it in MindManager as he gave it. Some of the detail is missing but the support material from Mindjet will cover that. Links at the bottom of the page.

My experience with the beta has been good. I like the new ribbon, the reduced CPU time consumed, the SharePoint addin and I have just found those new images! I still have many other improvements to give a real workout to: slide mode, Gantt chart pane and planning the day in tasks with durations in minutes 🙂 .

It’s a great product which I hope will bring many new users on board and provide that extra oomph to the users of earlier versions. As someone who has used MindManager almost daily since 1996 I am looking forward to getting the release version, personalising it for my applications, listening and contributing to the MindManager community, and (fingers crossed) assisting my existing and future clients to exploit MindManager.

The Outlook Query allows you to access all the folders and sub-folders in Outlook. You can for instance select task by category and who they have been assigned to.
Good for meeting preparation. Do one for each attendee at the meeting

Yes this is a big improvement for power hungry Tablet PC users. In my experience MindManager 9 no longer uses CPU time when idling. If you have live topic connections to MS Office / SharePoint this may not be true (Must test).

When you ink the CPU time does not go through the roof, just up the stairs.

CPU time is less when using the keyboard and mouse compared to MindManager 8.

Integrated Gantt Chart & Resource Planning

Synchronized project timelines displayed alongside your map

Now fully integrated in the product. No need to buy JCV Gantt, if all you want is a Gantt chart. For the slightly more serious Project Managers who were trying to avoid MS Project, you have lost the spreadsheet costing, resource costs and the ability to have the apps on two different screens.

Hold on to MindManager 8 and JCVGantt if you do not want to lose these features. There is no plan to allow JCV Gantt to interact with MindManager 9.

Slide Presentation Mode

Create interactive slide presentations in MindManager so you can present your ideas and capture feedback at the same time

It’s another way to use your maps in presentations. Understand and invest some time in practising the process and it will give another dimension to presentations and print outs.

Dynamic Outlook Dashboards

View and organize Outlook emails, contacts, notes, tasks or meetings within your map, without having to switch applications

Must check this out.

Enhanced Usability and Interface

Utilization of Office 2010 usability and interface best practices make using MindManager with Microsoft applications even easier

I am not a grumpy old man. I like the new Microsoft 2010 UI. It’s slightly retro!

I have some dissapointments but I will leave those until I get my hands on a pre-release copy. You never know Topic Alerts might come back!

I am a Chartered Engineer and member of the IET. So I was pleasantly surprised to see a Review of MindManager 8 in the fortnightly magazine E&T which is also published on-line.

It’s a good review, highlighting MindManager’s strengths and its percieved (high) price weakness versus the competition. Pity it is 2 years after it was released. I like the last two paragraphs. Fortunately I am way past the 30 day trial, I did that in 1998. I don’t feel anything like a BP submersible, still trying to plug some of the leaks but I have been to the depths. I know my friends Nick Duffill of Harport Consulting and Nigel Goult of Olympic Limited have been deeper and are still drilling. Ok double space problems in notes don’t compare to millions of barrels of oil but they are irritating if it’s your principal daily application.

This article inspires me to re-publish something I wrote for the predecessor of the E&T magazine on using MindManager for Project Management. I never quite forgave the IEE (as it was then) for having all my MindManager maps redrawn by their in-house graphic artist! It was written for them in 2003 and updated in 2007. This version of “MindManaging Your Projects” has my original mapwork. I will re-export the map which I used to write the article and publish it as a blog. Should take 5 minutes!

p.s. One of the best benefits of membership of the IET is using the Members Lounge at the IET Savoy Place, London. If you would like a chat about anything, contact me and I will be pleased to bring you in as my guest. Just descend the stairs at the north western end of Waterloo Bridge and cross over at the traffic lights or walk through the park from Embankment tube. Don’t go through the entrance door on the right it takes you in to Second Life!

Its been bugging me for a few days that I can’t see an index of my blogs. I am hoping that someone will point me to a useful Blogger add-in after this posting. In the meantime I have constructed a few with MindManager by dragging and dropping titles and links via a Google search.

The clickable image map shows the original map full scale but I replaced the standard jog file with a gif so it loads faster.The PDF file alters the formatting and produces a very large file.The Flash is also big which is why I put it on a separate page.I need to write a version of the outline template so it is fit for the purpose of adding linked text to a blog. The styles and structure make it too complicated at the moment. Use view source to see what I mean.

The easiest way has got to be publishing it as map and letting you download it. It is also bar far the smallest file size.

Ten days ago I sat down with Clare Evans at the Guoman Tower Hotel. We have been living parallel lives on Ecademy occasionally interacting but never really getting to know much about each other. Now we have 90 minutes of face to face insights and I have volunteered to publish some maps of her new book Time Management for Dummies.

Its a comprehensive book covering a wide range of time management issues. There are a few helpful chapters focussed on home workers and small businesses. I recently exchanged messages with an ex-Lehman Brothers employee on Ecademy. More and more of us will be running our own business or at least considering our employed position as our personal business.

The book is full of useful tips “Focus on important tasks not just urgent ones” and processes such as the Wheel of Life, for improving your time management.

Here is the first map, the links mentioned in the book plus some extras. I am trialling the scary: Rescue Time, it records and graphs the web sites and applications you are using on your PC!